Yet another post by Xealbert in Design Philosophy

ID:152809
 
Oct 2 2005, 8:42 am (Edited on Oct 2 2005, 8:48 am)
zOmg!211

Well, I was thinking.. For my un-announced-project. Should I implement 'Classes'/'Status'. Such as: Warrior, barbarian, sorcerer, mage, archer, sniper, crossbow-men, dragonslayer, elation, hunter, assasin, serial killer, marksman, merchant, drug dealer, dealer, village idiot, elder, theif, mayor, mistress, king, lord, peasant, and etc?

Or..I can go with the.. build-your-own-net-hero/villian.

What do y'all think?
#1 Oct 2 2005, 8:50 am
The build-your-own-net-hero/villian is more customizable, but it could cause imbalance in the game depending on how you grow your character, classes add a little more stability. I would say build-your-own-net-hero/villian if you are making a "regular" RPG, and classes for other things such as action games or strategy RPGs(FFT).
#2 Oct 3 2005, 7:58 pm
In response to Blakdragon77 (#1)
Uhh. This is where I go 'Bump'.

<font size='4' color='#FFCCCC'>Bump!</font>
#3 Oct 3 2005, 9:37 pm
In response to Xeal (#2)
I think you should have both. What I mean by this is that you can have classes but they have the choice to venture into other classes. The classes could just give you starting things. This way people can either stick with the character or, if they don't like it can switch to another.

Even have it so that classes will allow you to progress more quickly in the certain areas that it's part of.
#4 Oct 3 2005, 10:40 pm
The thing that I always liked is their title depending on how they progress the character.

Example:

If they have highest agility and dexterity, and learned the skill "sneak", they'd venture into ninja, and when they learn some 1-hit-kill skills they'd turn into an assassin.

If they have the highest as agility and dexterity, and instead of learning sneak they learn "parry", they'd turn into a swashbuckler.


I always thought that was a cool system, especially when it opens up the possibility of having tons and tons and tons of different titles for people based on how they build themselves. It's titles with full customization.
#5 Oct 4 2005, 6:08 am
Having a build-your-own hero system was fun and origional awhile back, but I think that it detracts from many games. A well-defined class system with class skills, abilities, etc allows for better balance of gameplay and encourages teamwork due to the interaction of game mechanics. My vote is for a well-defined class system in any hack-and-slash game.
#6 Oct 4 2005, 6:09 am
In response to PirateHead (#5)
I like your idea, Kak. Reminds me of "Final Fantasy Tatics".
#7 Oct 4 2005, 6:20 am
In response to Xeal (#6)
The deep, intersting, and strategic class system in FFT is part of what made it such a popular and valued game. When I ask myself what I can do to make players really love my game, I think about games like FFT that were so much fun to play. Then, I think about games like Morrowind, which was a fun game to play solo but would be hectic as a multiplayer game because of each player's godliness.

<aside> Come to think of it, Morrowind was sort of like a really souped up Zeta game. My 5000-damage Fireball might as well have been a Kamememememe, or whatever they chant to call up their asanine spell, and my high-level character might as well be SSJ1337 Goku. </aside>